Guava Leaf Decoction passes clinical trial for treatment of infectious diarrhoea.

Based on a detailed and successful laboratory testing at the Foundation for over a decade, guava leaf extract has been taken up for further studies. Guava leaf decoction (GLD) was used in a clinical trial to demonstrate its efficacy in adult patients with uncomplicated infectious diarrhoea.

This recently concluded trial undertaken at Department of Integrative Medicine, Medanta- The Medicity, Gurugram, recruited a total of 109 diarrhoeal patients. It included four intervention groups treated with different doses of GLD whose observations were compared with control patients prescribed standard of care which was only oral rehydration solution (ORS).

The results were encouraging and the fastest recovery in terms of improvement in stool consistency and reduction in frequency of stools was noted in patients treated with the highest dose of GLD (equivalent to 14 leaves). Notably, no trial related adverse events were reported and no toxicity was found to be associated with GLD treatment.

The trial thus validated the laboratory findings of FMR and added further credence to the global traditional use of GLD as an antidiarrhoeal. GLD can now be popularized as an adjunct to ORS instead of directly using antibiotics/antimotility agents. This in turn could lead to a decrease in the emergence of antibiotic resistance which is fast emerging as a global threat.

The study was funded by Rajiv Gandhi Science & Technology Commission, Government of Maharashtra.

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Foundation for Medical Research practices a combination of basic biomedical and translational research. Our traditional research areas are leprosy, tuberculosis and medicinal plants.

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